


I Am A Cowboy in the Boat of...Whatever

by cleo (miri_cleo)



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Gen, Gen Fic, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-07
Updated: 2010-09-07
Packaged: 2017-10-11 13:34:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/112946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miri_cleo/pseuds/cleo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Big Block of Cheese Day is always interesting</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Am A Cowboy in the Boat of...Whatever

CJ resisted a groan as she walked out of the Roosevelt Room; no, it was not that she was resisting the impulse to groan…it was that the impulse to groan was suddenly less important than the confusion. Recycled Cowboys?

"Toby," CJ began, ignoring the fact that he was eating peanuts at eight in the morning and the thought that why anyone would want to eat peanuts for breakfast was beyond her, "what exactly is a 'recycled cowboy'? And don't I have better things to do with my time than meet with one?"

Toby, somehow managing to be bemused and distracted, said, "I have no earthy idea, and yes, but you're going to do it anyway."

"Do we even still have cowboys?" They began to walk. "Do cowboys still go on…" CJ made a sweeping gesture with her arms, "whatevers with their cows?"

"Cattle," Toby corrected as they rounded a corner.

"What?" CJ looked up from the Recycled Cowboy brief she had been staring at.

Toby stopped. "Cattle. The plural of 'cow' is 'cattle'. Cowboys go on whatevers with their cattle."

"Do I honestly look like I care?" CJ asked, frustrated and making a mental note to see if "cows" was an accepted plural of "cow."

She was about to continue with a haphazard guess as to just what a Recycled Cowboy might be when Josh passed by them wordlessly, stopped, and backtracked to where they were standing.

"Care about what?" He took a sip of the coffee he was holding, and he promptly made a face. "This is completely cold. DONNA…"

"Stop yelling," CJ said as she took the coffee cup out of his hand, lifted the lid before sniffing, and promptly tossed it into the nearest trashcan.

"What do you not care about?"

"Cows. And cowboys who go on whatever with their cows."

"Cattle," Toby corrected, annoyed enough to pause in tossing a peanut into his mouth.

Josh squinted and looked otherwise confused. "What the hell are you talking about? This is a waste of your time and mine, and as far as I'm concerned what cowboys do with their cows is their own business."

"Joshua!"

"Cattle. It's a plural noun, people…from the Middle English 'catel',"

CJ glared at Toby, but he simply shrugged and turned to go. Josh grumbled something about "cows" being perfectly acceptable, when Donna, looking peeved and a bit flustered, walked up.

"Did I hear you yelling at me because I'm pretty sure we had a discussion about this, and yelling at me is not effective or good for your health..."

"My coffee was cold."

CJ then made Josh the subject of her glare before turning to Donna. "What do you know about cowboys?"

"Cowboys?" After a moment of initial confusion, Donna got that sly, secretive look with which she accompanied a grin and an eyebrow raise. "Are you planning a bachelorette party?"

Toby, who was obviously still close enough to hear, turned around and walked back to them. CJ simply turned to Josh with a look that seemed to say, "Sometimes I wonder where you found this woman." And Donna's grin promptly fell.

"You were talking about real cowboys. Okay, yeah…I have stuff to do. I'm gonna…go."

Donna nearly backed into Leo as she hurried away, and Leo simply looked at CJ, Toby, and Josh in a curious manner—curious but not curious enough to ask.

"Leo," CJ said, as she knew he was about to walk away without a word, "why am I meeting with Recycled Cowboys?"  
Leo grinned, looking self-satisfied as he definitely began to walk off. "Big Block of Cheese Day, CJ. Democracy in action."

"Couldn't the cowboys just skip the whatever by loading the cows into trucks?" Josh asked.

"I think that might be the problem," CJ mused.

"Cowboys who skip their whatevers, which by the way, Joshua, are called 'trails,' are not truly cowboys anymore," President Bartlet said from behind them. They all turned and echoed each other in acknowledging that he was there and that he was indeed the president. "Thus, Claudia Jean is correct. Did you know that true cowboys still…"

"With all due respect, Mr. President," CJ interrupted, knowing that if she did not, they would all be in for a lecture that neither helped them nor made Big Block of Cheese Day go by any faster, "I'm late for a meeting with Recycled Cowboys."


End file.
